1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for searching for a wanted vehicle and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for searching for a wanted vehicle, capable of interoperated with black boxes mounted in vehicles of unspecified individuals, recognizing and searching for registration numbers of vehicles in proximity of each black box in real time, and identifying a location of the wanted vehicle in real time using information about locations of the searched vehicles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Current technologies for recognizing license plates of vehicles are used for various application services such as searching for stolen vehicles and criminal vehicles, and parking management. Further, as black boxes for vehicles are becoming common, the black boxes installed in the vehicles can continue to record the front or rear conditions of the vehicle during traveling, and recorded images are helpful in revealing the facts in the event of traffic accidents. In this way, black boxes for vehicles are evolving into tools capable of supporting various services such as global positioning system (GPS) service, vehicle safe driving support, and so on.
Further, smart services for the vehicle, such as safety security, diagnosis, remote control, remote start, air conditioner control, remote door opening/closing, and parking location confirmation, provided at a remote place using a communication network based on an advanced information technology (IT) system have been developed and are currently used.
Currently, to search for a wanted vehicle, use is made of a method of stopping the wanted vehicle at a checkpoint by automatically recognizing license plates of vehicles passing through a road using a vehicle license plate recognition system installed on the road, comparing the recognized results with data of wanted vehicles, and transmitting information about the wanted vehicle. In another method, the registration number of a vehicle that is parked or is traveling is recognized using a vehicle license plate recognition system mounted on a police vehicle, thereby automatically searching for a wanted vehicle. For example, an “apparatus for tracing wanted culprits and missing persons using image recognition and a method thereof” disclosed in Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2013-0106640 are adapted to be able to trace wanted culprits and missing persons by configuring a black box of a vehicle into an ambush mode during parking, thereby identifying faces of pedestrians, and sending a text message to a vehicle owner or recognition information to registered public agencies when a recognized target is present.
However, in these methods, the number of installed or mounted vehicle license plate recognition systems is significantly deficient to allow a search for the wanted vehicle in a very restricted region. Further, it is difficult to trace the location of the wanted vehicle in real time.
In connection with this, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2013-0106640 discloses a technology related to “Apparatus and Method for Controlling traffic.”